Man accused of raping, sodomising young daughter

A 53-YEAR-OLD man from the Childers area has faced Bundaberg District Court accused of maintaining a six-year sexual relationship with his daughter from the time she was seven years old.

He also stands accused of raping her on six occasions between January 1, 2008, and September 12, 2014.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to all seven charges as the trial began yesterday.

Crown prosecutor Clare Kelly opened the Crown's case against the 53-year-old, outlining the details of the allegations and advising the court about witnesses expected to give evidence throughout the trial.

She told the seven-woman, five-man jury they would watch a number of recorded interviews between detectives from the Bundaberg Child Protection Investigation Unit and the alleged victim - now aged 14.

Ms Kelly said the girl was aged between 7 and 13 when the alleged offences occurred, either inside the family home, outside in the scrub area on the family's rural property or inside a shed.

The majority of offences are alleged to have taken place while the girl's mother was away from the house.

Ms Kelly said the alleged incidents included digital rape, oral sex and sodomy and on a number of occasions the girl's father allegedly used a whip to hit her across the back after the sexual conduct occurred.

The court heard the girl would give evidence that her father began penetrating her vagina with his fingers from when she was about seven and also used a vibrator.

She alleges her father began sodomising her when she was 8.

While the man is charged with six counts of rape, MsKelly said the girl would give evidence in numerous pre-recorded interviews, in which she stated the offending occurred "a lot" and as regularly as three times a week.

She said the girl would also recall that her father allegedly told her not to tell anyone about the offending.

Ms Kelly said the allegations came to the attention of police after the girl told a number of her school friends in 2014 and the jury would also watch pre-recorded evidence from those four teenagers.

Among the Crown's witnesses would be a pediatrician who conducted a medical examination of the girl.